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Greens – Ganga

Ganga in Danger: Water in the Ganga is not fit for drinking or bathing and has high levels of dangerous bacteria. Despite government commitments to clean the river the plans have not been implemented properly.

Ray of Hope: Akhilesh Yadav, new Chief Minister of UP says he is keen to listen to people. He can ensure that clean Ganga plans become a
reality. But he needs to see public support. The Clean Ganga campaign started a petition asking Akhilesh Yadav to take action and do what other UP leaders have failed to do.

Financing Available: The World Bank has recently committed $1 billion to clean the Ganga from Kanpur to Varanasi. Previous governments have already wasted over Rs. 3000 crore without substantial results. We must ensure that this is not repeated.

Simple Solution
1. Capture – 100% of the sewage must be captured before it enters the river.
2. Clean – build sewage treatment plants that don’t need electricity and remove all disease causing bacteria.
3. Coordinate – communication between the public, NGOs, intergovernmental bodies and national, state and local government, so
that money and time is no longer wasted.
4. Check – test, verify and report weekly whether the plant is in operation and whether the water is clean.

PS: IIT professor, Dr G.D. Agrawal is in the final phase of his fast unto death to save the Ganga River. The doctors say he may only have
days left. If Akhilesh Yadav commits to cleaning the Ganga we can still save Dr. Agrawal’s life.